RE: Calling All Cooks & Design Gurus--SUMMARY

[Ruth Lundquist <RLundquist -at- prosarcorp -dot- com>]

Thanks to all who responded to my original post. I wasn't clear in the
initial post that these recipes are not for a cookbook, but are for a very
un-CIA-like cooking class where they will be posted at a cooking station.
All ingredients will be prepped, labeled, and available at the cooking
station, so the list of ingredients at the beginning of the recipe is
moot--the students simply need to know what to do with them. (No hunting and
gathering required.)

If anyone would like a Word document containing a sample of the design I've
decided to use, let me know & I'll email you. The document contains fake
recipes--don't try to cook these as written! It's just for formatting
purposes. (I haven't created the styles yet, so it's not a template.)

To summarize the discussion:
-many like the ingredients listed before the instructions
-some suggested listing the ingredients first & then again inline with the
instructions
-some like more than "just the facts ma'am" and want to learn more about the
food
-some like "just the facts ma'am" and just want to cook something to eat
-there are a bazillion cookbooks of each of the aforementioned types
-Joy of Cooking is Great!
-Joy of Cooking Stinks!
-some online resources for recipe information design: 
www.ichef.com 
http://eat.epicurious.com/ 
www.masterchef.com 
www.cookingfortherushed.com (this one doesn't appear to be working today)

My personal cookbook design favorites, each with very different styles:
*Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook: Begins with color photos of each of
the dishes contained therein. Ingredients listed first, followed by easy to
understand numbered instructions & inline line drawings of techniques where
needed.
*New Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens: Ingredients followed by
instructions in paragraph form.
*Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes I & II by Julia Child: Lengthy
dissertations on technique and style. Recipes are several pages long. Only
when I'm feeling particularly ambitious & energetic.
*The Best of Taste (Williams-Sonoma): style described in original post. I've
closely mimicked this information design.

Thanks again. 

PS
It's been interesting to see how this Cookbook approach can be applied to
complex documentation projects.

Ruth



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